


The Tribe (a story of survival)

by 07WhiteLightning



Category: Original Work
Genre: Children, Gen, Horses, Indian, Novel, Slavery, Survival, forest, horse, indians - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 10:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11507154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/07WhiteLightning/pseuds/07WhiteLightning
Summary: Nascha Mosi's life is turned upside-down when her tribe is attacked and enslaved, now she must learn to survive on her own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This book is entirely fictional, any reference to events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

I, Nascha Mosi, watched as the Chief came my way, Anish Ganesha was the bravest man of the Navajo tribe that I had known in my short twelve years of life, he is a leader whom everyone respects, I bowed my head slightly to acknowledge him, then continued along the path leading to my families tent, the pile of wood was getting heavy on my arms and I knew if I dawdled too long Nitka1 would be angry. As I stepped into the tent out if the crisp morning air, I saw Nitka starting the cookfire, her thin brown arms darting between flames as she heaped on the kindling, I put my load down beside the fire pit and grasped the cookstone from the corner, heaping dry mush on it, I brought it to the roaring fire, then grasped the water skin, I mixed the two substances together and kneaded it until it was the bread texture, then I slid the cookstone into the tunnel that led under the fire where the bread would cook, by now Nitka had finished constructing a stew, so I followed her outside and we tended the plants together, me pulling out weeds while Nitka checked for bugs,  
“Nascha ,” Nitka said, I looked up and saw Nitka was holding one of the worst bugs, the eglib, who was so large it could eat a seedling per day if not found and killed, I picked it up and went into the tent, dropping it into the fire, I saw the fire needed wood, so I fed it then went back outside, to continue pulling weeds, I heard a horse neigh, it was Noeshow,2 on the pinto mare, Ebina, they were returning with all the hunters, they were untying the skins that were laden with meat, from their horses backs, the women came to help, I followed Nitka, as she hurried to Noeshow and my older brother, Niyol, I helped him drag a skin laden with a deer carcass, when we reached our tent I dropped my side of the skin and fed the fire, I then pulled the bread from the tunnel, it was nicely browned, then I took a bone knife from the same corner as the cookstone had been, and sliced the bread, getting the wooden bowls, I poured soup into each one, passing one to Noeshow, Nitka, Niyol and finally kept one for myself, getting a slice of bread to dip in, after everyone had gotten a slice, Nitka slid the bread back into the tunnel to be left for dinner, “Good hunting today?” Nitka asked Noeshow, he nodded,  
“Winter is finished at last, now we can do some real hunting,”  
“What are we doing this afternoon?” Nitka asked,  
“I might make more arrows, I lost two today-”  
“No, the chief called a meeting at The Large tent, remember?” Niyol interrupted, his mouth full of soup and bread, Noeshow nodded,  
“That’s right; he calls for everyone to come, even the women,”  
Nitka looked surprised, I knew why, it was rare for women to be called to important meetings; I could hardly remember the last time I had gone to a meeting. We left after the dishes were stacked ready to be washed tonight at the river, when we reached the large tent it was loud with the chatter of the women and men, a few minutes after we arrived a man banged two loud rocks together and everyone was quiet as Anish spoke in his loud and firm voice, “welcome everyone, I appreciate ya’ll coming,” he started, “there has been peace for many years but it will not last, the Cherokee tribe are brewing, they want to hunt in our land, we will not allow it, yesterday they gave the war cry.” He looked at everyone sadly, “they will attack soon, I advise everyone to bring their children and wives to the hills in two days or if you can be ready sooner, we men and older boys will fight as usual, the meeting is closed, please stay for dinner.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

I was awakened the next morning by Ebina whinnying loudly, I got up, and saw Noeshow was gone and Nitka was hurriedly putting her Mifata on while Niyol rubbed his eyes sleepily, shorts on already,  
“What’s wrong Nitka?” I asked,  
“they are attacking!” she exclaimed, I understood and hastily put on my own Mifata, and followed Nitka, outside it was dusty as several men on horseback galloped around shooting arrows, I recognised the Anish on his horse, Eagle, as I saw a warrior I didn’t recognise gallop passed, I heard Eagle whinny in pain, and saw a spear stuck in her shoulder, the Chief was gone, horrified, I followed Nitka and Niyol to Ebina’s yard, Noeshow was leading her to the gate, I couldn’t help thinking this may be the last time our family was together, Nitka hugged Noeshow,  
“Stay safe, Bidziil,”  
“You too, Ayita.” He answered, then hugged me and Niyol in turn, and handed the Ebina’s rains to Niyol, “take care of your mother and sister,” then he was gone in the dust, Niyol helped Nitka onto Ebina then me, he then went and got his own horse, Byser. We cantered just ahead of him, I was sitting in front of Nitka, suddenly I heard her gasp, then her grip on me loosened and she fell to the ground, an arrow in her back! I tried to stop Ebina, but she was terrified and kept on going faster, so I tried jumping off, however, my legs seemed to be stuck on, it was too late now, we were passed the village, I looked behind me, Niyol was gone, he had probably stopped to help Nitka. We had passed the plainlands now and were entering the forest that Noeshow and Niyol hunted in so often, suddenly Ebina started bucking! I fell off her and she galloped away,  
“Yea, why not leave me like you left Nitka!” I cried, tears coursing down my cheeks, “All because we’re not Noeshow!” I knew this wouldn’t bring her back and felt foolish at yelling to a horse who couldn’t even hear me nor understand me, I figured I may as well get something to eat so I gathered some herbs and found a river, then I built a small fire as Nitka would have done, Nitka, I hope she was alright, suddenly I realised that I was alone for the first time in my life, the village was miles away and probably burnt to the ground, I hoped someone had survived.  
I curled down and went to sleep, dreaming I was still in my tent and Ebina was whinnying, in pain? I woke up and realised a horse really was whinnying, I put the fire out, ate the herbs I had cooked, then went to investigate, I found Eagle laying on the ground not far away, sweat mixed with blood, someone had pulled the spear out of him and he must have run to the only familiar place to him, here in the forest, I almost retched at the sight of him, this once proud horse had carried the chief hunting for almost three years now. But as Nitka would say, don’t dwell on the past when something is to be done, I searched for the herbs Nitka had used to help one of the horses when there had been a stray arrow, I fixed a salve and slathered it onto him, he staggered to his feet, and I led him to the water where he drank then lay down again, that afternoon, I ate more herbs then slept beside Eagle, who kept me warm and comforted.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I changed Eagle’s salve and made fresh stuff, it was cold so I started a fire and gathered the seeds that made bread, then I searched for a cookstone, there was one in the water so I dragged it out and made bread, then I realised I needed to kill an animal for meat and bone knifes, then I got an idea, digging a tunnel under the fire I put rock directly under the fire, and the bread out further, then I heaped the wood onto the fire, making it hotter than I had ever done before, while I was waiting I got a straight stick, then when I was sure the fire was hot enough, I dragged the rock out using another rock, it was like dough, so I shaped it into an arrow, pushed the stick underneath and dipped it into water until it stopped hissing, then I pulled it out and got a bendy stick and a vine, then started practising using it as a bow and arrow, by now it was getting dark and I was getting hungry, so I ate a chunk of bread and some of the herbs, I was hungry for meat, but there was no way of getting any yet, after I had eaten I fed the fire then checked on Eagles wound, it was healing fast, he would be on his feet tomorrow, I realised, he would probably wander away from me because I was a girl, I decided to make the most of having someone around to keep me company, so I talked to him as if he understood me, I was getting tired so I fell asleep. The next morning, I was busy practising the bow and arrow, waiting for the fire to burn my next rock when Eagle shuddered to his feet, I watched him, expecting him to walk into the brush, never to be seen again, but he limped beside me, watched me as I reloaded the bow and tried to hit the target again, then he lowered his head to graze, I realised, he saw me as his master now that I had helped him.  
Time went quickly I made several arrows, I managed to shoot a rabbit, making a quiver out of its skin, soon two weeks had passed, Eagle was ready to be ridden, his wound was nothing but a scar now, I called him at night from wherever he had been grazing so we could snuggle together, he came to a low whistle that was the loudest I could muster after being around Nitka, who said whistling was only for boys, so having no practise, I had to make do with the sound that sounded only the slightest bit like a whistle, I called to him one morning and he came as usual, at a canter, I patted his scarred shoulder, “good boy!” I praised him, “I’m gonna ride you today,” I walked beside him and tried to fling myself onto his back, he waited, but I tried again and again, finally I managed to grip his long mane and scramble up, I caught my breath slowly as a tingly feeling went up my legs and I realised I was shaking, after a minute I calmed down and squeezed with my legs, since I had no reins I had no control where we would go, as we walked along I looked around trying to memorize the way we were going, I rode for most of the day then Eagle returned to my camp and I got off, the next day I managed to bring the bow and quiver full of arrows, I practiced shooting at trees, most of the time missing them completely, I shot several rabbits and I made a double bag for me to store stuff on Eagle, using vines for rope, I also stored vines on Eagle, just in case I would need them, several weeks later I was skilled enough to hit a tree at a canter, then I moved on to moving targets, by now I had learned to control Eagle with my knees, one day, I saw a deer and as Eagle trotted bumpily towards it I loaded the bow and shot, missing the deer completely and the arrow was lost in the bushes, I, of course didn’t care, I could make another, so I reloaded the bow quickly while Eagle still chased the deer, cantering now while I gripped with my knees and shot, getting the deer in the leg which slowed it and I was able to reload and as Eagle overtook it I shot it in the chest, stopping it immediately, I stopped Eagle and jumped off, seeing the deer was dead I pushed it onto Eagles back and tied it down with vines, then walked back with Eagle following, feeling like a hero, now instead of using rocks for knives I could make bone knives that were stronger.


	4. Chapter 4

I was riding Eagle around for fun, the bow inside the pouch strapped on Eagle, the quiver full of colourful feathered arrows, when it happened, I heard voices, “ready, and... shoot!” it was Niyol, I knew he would be angry if I called out because he was obviously hunting, so I followed the sound of his voice and saw him, he was taller than ever, six boys and three girls from the village were behind him and he seemed to be instructing one of the boys how to shoot when they saw me, “who are you and what is your tribes name?” he asked immediately, pointing the bow at Eagle’s chest, I grinned at him, “hey Niyol,” his eyes widened in surprise,   
“Nascha?” he asked in disbelief, I nodded, “what are you doing here? I thought you were dead after those men went after you,”  
“What men?” I asked in surprise,  
“Some Cherokee men went after you because they wanted Ebina because she was healthy- where is Ebina? Who is that?” he inspected Eagle  
“You tell me where Ebina is, she bucked me off.” I answered, “This is my horse Eagle,”  
“But the chief’s horse died, I saw him myself,” he looked Eagle over in disbelief,  
“I found this horse in the forest and he reminded me so much of Eagle I couldn’t help calling him that, he was hurt so I helped him,” I lied, pointing to his scar as if this was proof that this wasn’t Eagle, “this must have been one of Cherokee’s horses-” I stopped and pulled out the bow and an arrow.  
The other children looked at me in disbelief, probably wondering whether I was a boy with a girl name, I could almost hear them whisper about the strangeness of a girl with a horse and a bow and arrow as I Iooked around quickly, “is you expecting a visitor?” I asked in a low voice,  
“Yea, Trento with Byser,”  
“You mean she survived?”  
“yep, boy am I glad of that, I'm not sure how we would have survived without a horse to help us hunt, its good you brought a horse too, now I can ride him,” I looked at him, horrified I would have to give Eagle up just because I was a girl,   
“Can’t I ride and hunt?” I asked, Niyol looked at me in surprise, it must have never occurred to him that I might want to hunt or even know how to,   
“Of course you can’t, Noeshow would have a fit-” he stopped and turned his face away, I understood, Noeshow was dead,   
“Nitka?” I asked though I didn’t want to,   
“I don’t know, after you left, I tried to help Nitka but before I reached her a Cherokee riding past heaved her onto his horse and galloped away, I turned to find father, but I found him with a spear through his-” he choked on the word, “ch-est” I buried my head in Eagle’s mane and sobbed, Eagle shifted his weight and I realised he was probably expecting me to dismount so I jumped off him, still sniffling and followed Niyol to a large mud hut about the size of two tents, before we entered Niyol looked back at Eagle who was grazing, calling to a couple of boys he said, “tie up the horse,” I was about to object but then I saw they couldn’t catch him before he had galloped away, “silly girl why did you let him go anyhow!” Niyol said angrily, walking inside, within the hut was dimly lit with flame torches, I saw several boys and girls look up as we entered, “how many live here?” I whispered,  
“12 boys and 6 girls,” he answered, “I – I found all I could from the remains of the village after the Cherokee's left.” I saw that there were several bowls, a fire pit and several cookstones, a girl about 15 was cooking stew, but I wrinkled my nose at the smell of several herbs mixed in too much water, “I can cook,” I offered the girl, she looked at me dully,  
“try for one day, bet you can’t cook as well as my Nitka could,” she said moving away, I looked amongst the few collected plants in a pile and I saw nothing much edible, so I ran outside and found several plants that could take on the taste of meat, then I found Nitka’s favourite type of herb, it was delicious and filling, so grasping lots of it I ran back in and got to work, adding a little of the meagre supply of meat in also, noticing there was no soup bones to add, I wondered what they had done with them, so went on without them, soon it was dinner time so I served it up, and ate, I couldn’t help thinking of how proud Nitka would be of me if she knew I had made a soup like hers, several little boys came back for second helpings, the girl who had been cooking came up to me,   
“Thank you, you will never know how much this meant to me,” she smiled through her tears.  
I decided it was bedtime, but there was no skins for me to lay on, as I looked around I saw that only a few older boys had any skins to sleep on, then I got an idea, going outside I gave my strange sounding whistle and in less than a minute, Eagle was cantering toward me, I jumped onto his back and he galloped on, I guided him to the spot and he stopped at my old camping spot where the velvety deer skin lay invitingly, I rolled it up and put it in one of Eagle’s pockets, then I jumped onto him and he cantered back to the hut, then I untied his pockets and whispered to him for a minute, then walked inside the hut, and snuggled onto the deer skin.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up and was surprised to see all the children, including Niyol, were still asleep, I got up, and quietly started to grind the seeds that would be made into bread, I then started to make bread, when it was finished I snuck out to find firewood, and returned quickly to find most of the children rolling up their skins, Niyol was looking at my deerskin in wonder, I wondered why, it was just a deerskin, then I wished I had put it somewhere else, he picked it up and felt its softness, then began to roll it up, I knew this meant he thought it as his own, I was frustrated but knew arguing was useless, he was a boy and was entitled to getting the best, so I started the fire in silence and began to make the lunch stew, when it was mixed up I left it and went to find my brother, he was teaching the boys the art of the bow and arrow, when he saw me he said, “hey, I bet I could show you a thing or two on how to use a bow and arrow,”  
“Maybe,” I came forward, “let me get my own,”  
“okay,” so I ran inside and got it and put the quiver of arrows on my back, and left with instructions to the girl who had been cooking, to serve up lunch and start cooking herbs for dinner,  
Niyol saw me and said, “see if you can hit this tree at ten paces,” I rolled my eyes, then reminded myself he had never seen me in action, so I loaded and easily shot, he looked at me in surprise,   
“What can you do on a moving target?”  
“I’ve killed 28 rabbits at first shot and a deer,”  
He looked at me and a new interest dawned, “can you get that horse to come here?” he commanded me, “I need to go hunt about now,” I shook my head, but caught the stern look in his eyes, so I gave my funny whistle, and Eagle came up, the little boys watched me with puzzled looks, I realised they may have been wondering why I didn’t whistle properly, Niyol came up and Eagle watched him warily as he came along with a bridle,   
“Can’t you ride him without a bridle?” I asked,  
“I can.” So he dropped the bridle and jumped onto Eagle’s back, Eagle started forward, and stared at me, the whites of his eyes showing, I watched him concerned, what was wrong with him? Niyol sat tall and grinned at me “I think-” he started, then Eagle started to buck over and over, Niyol came off with the third buck, and jumped up straight away, “you!” he shouted at Eagle angrily, he strode towards Eagle, who was trembling, Niyol didn’t notice and jumped on again, but Eagle was in a frenzy of fear and threw him again, this time Niyol came to me, “go on, teach this horse who is boss,” I nodded and walked over to the sweating horse,   
“Hey there Eagle, it’s alright mate,” I clambered onto him, and he stood still, trembling, “it’s alright,” I whispered, then I glanced at Niyol, he was grinning,   
“Alright, fine, you can hunt with me, I’ll ride Byser,” so he hunted with me, brother and sister taking care of 10 different families children.


	6. Chapter 6

We returned home late that afternoon, with two deer, Niyol was surprised at how well I could hunt, I helped a few girls skin them, then we preserved the meat the best we could, there would be no need for the meat flavoured herbs tonight! After we were finished I went to see how dinner was going, the results were better than I could have done, she had found an extra spice that made it nicer, so I added lots of dried meat, then served it all up, even more children went back for seconds, that night, a little boy gave me his rabbit skin to lie on.  
The next morning, after starting the fire, making bread and mixing up lunch, I left with my bow and arrows on Eagle, before three hours had passed I had shot 7 rabbits, tying them around my waist I returned to the hut, but went behind it, skinned the rabbits and had the meat ready in strips before I went in, as usual the little girls were sitting around playing in the dirt while Niyol and the other boy taught lessons on how to shoot with a bow and arrow, I went inside and saw the girl whose name was Kaitcha, was stirring my soup, I hung the rabbit skins over the fire to dry and cooked the meat on a cookstone, it was ready before lunch, I dried some of it out and put some in the soup and others aside in another pot for dinner, Kaitcha talked while I did this, “why do you know so much more than me? I am older then you,”  
“I started cooking and working just after I learned to walk, because I was the only girl, Nitka taught me all the things at once,” I answered,  
“Oh, I started... I never cooked, Nitka said I could learn after my older sisters moved out, but then I got sick, that's why I stayed in the tent during the fighting, I was still mending, now I know how to make hide material, how to skin animals, all that stuff, but no cooking was taught to me,”  
“Did your Nitka grow plants?” I asked,  
“No, my Noeshow was Anish,”  
“The chief?!” I exclaimed, looking at her with new respect “you are his youngest daughter who everyone used to talk about-” I stopped, realising she might take this differently from how I meant it to sound,  
“What about me?” she asked looking at me in interest,  
“they would say you were the only daughter who couldn’t frown nor scold, that you were an angel to be around, whenever you went outside many older girls would surround you, I had never seen you, so I used my imagination, I guess I didn’t do a very good job of it though, I thought you would look like a white settler,” I grinned, embarrassed,  
“they were exaggerating, as you can see,” she rolled her eyes and smiled at me, her hair was tangled, her face smudged in dirt, but I could see why she had been the envy of the tribe, she really was beautiful, I guessed she would be married as soon as she turned sixteen,  
“I think today should be girl wash day,” I proposed,  
“good idea, everyone come inside!” she called, I watched as everyone filed in, some stood by me while others stood by her, “boys over here and girls over there,” Kaitcha instructed, the children obeyed, the boys were told to run off and play while us girls marched down to the river, we tried to scrub our clothes while we ran through the water, even the three year olds could swim easily and everyone knew not to scream out unless they were drowning, then I did my hair and Kaitcha got two groups of children to do each other’s hair, after Kaitcha had inspected all their hair, we went home, clean and happy.


	7. Chapter 7

My day was full now, as I got up each morning, did a few things to help Kaitcha before going hunting, Niyol came sometimes but it was mainly the other boy, Bayan who came, on Niyol’s mare, then after lunch I spent the rest of the day either playing with the children or doing stuff with Kaitcha, who I found the same as the girls back at home told me, she seldom had a frown on her face.  
One day after I had returned from hunting, a lone rider came to camp, I was playing with the little girls, and the man surveyed the little camp for a few minutes, Niyol walked to him, but the man obviously considered himself to high to speak to a child, he galloped away, I saw Niyol running towards his horse, I whistled then jumped onto Eagle as he galloped to me, then we chased the man, I knew Eagle was the fastest horse of our old tribe, so if the man got away he would have to be riding a fast horse, soon he was in sight, Eagle caught up and overtook them, the man saw we could keep chasing him all day so he stopped, “okay boy, what do you want?”  
I realised he thought I must be a boy and realised he wouldn’t talk to a girl, I was wondering what to do when Niyol appeared, on Byser, I sighed with relief as Niyol came up “who have you got here, sis?” I didn’t answer; the man looked at me in disbelief, “a girl who rides like a boy? I didn’t think you Navajo’s were that strange,”  
“We aren’t, normally,” Niyol answered, “but name me another person who can stay on that horse,” the man stared at me again, and I noticed he was Cherokee, “why are you here? To kill all that remain of the Navajo tribe?”  
“No, I am just a scout,”   
"A scout?”  
"A person who looks around the new territory, looking for new threats,”   
“Are you gonna tell them about us?” Niyol asked,  
“Maybe,” the man was looking at me again, some kind of interest in his eyes, “well, see ya’ll later,” he cantered away; I looked at Niyol questioningly should I follow? He shook his head and we rode back slowly, “why did he look at me like that, it was almost as if I were an animal,”  
“I don’t know, maybe he was just surprised you were a girl,”  
“Maybe,”  
We didn’t hear any more about what the scout did, but I was wary, and always on the lookout, nothing happened so I gradually relaxed and stopped worrying, I was too busy to worry now as winter neared, we preserved all we could, until we were sure we had preserved all we needed, soon snow came thick on the ground and I stopped hunting altogether and focused on keeping the little children warm and fed.


	8. Chapter 8

Spring came quickly as usual and I started hunting again, there were plentiful amounts of rabbits and deer, one day, I arrived at the hut to see Niyol and Bayan looking Byser over worriedly, Kaitcha took over unloading the dead deer off Eagle so I could go see what was wrong with Byser, “what's wrong?”  
“Nothing, she’s pregnant, 8 months through it looks like.”  
“Perfect,” I said,  
The next few weeks passed in a blur, the two boys took special care of Byser though they knew she didn’t need it, they stopped riding her so I was left with the providing meat to myself, I didn’t care, I liked being by myself, besides this, the boys ignored me mostly, I easily caught enough prey and spent the rest of my time doing whatever I wanted, soon I was skilled enough to hit the eyes from a rabbit 60 metres away, I also grew more skilled in horseback riding, I started standing on Eagle’s back as he galloped along, I learnt to jump over low branches so he learned I liked them, I also frequently doubled with Kaitcha or a young child, Eagle knew not to go under low branches then, I also got Eagle to gallop while I struggled to stay on his side, staying completely hidden from the other side, he learnt to take the signals to speed up or slow down while I was in weird positions, no one knew of these tricks except an occasional child whom I tried to teach also and Kaitcha whom I had grown close to.  
“Nascha!” I opened my eyes slowly,   
“Niyol?” I asked in confusion, it was the middle of the night and I was so tired, but I got up anyway, “what is it?”  
“Byser is in labour, I may need your skills, and you helped when she was born,”  
“ok,” I muttered sleepily and I got up and followed Niyol out, Byser was laying down, groaning, I saw her waters had broken, “water, I need water and skins, Niyol rushed away, I sat by her head, and tried to comfort her, then Niyol arrived and I dunked my hands in the water then felt Byser’s belly, “it is okay and in the right position,” I said, so we waited, it was getting light when Byser started to push, the foal came out quickly and sloppily, Niyol and I dried it, then it stood up unsteadily and began to drink, I went back to bed, satisfied, but Niyol stayed up.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning I went out to see how the foal was before I went on Eagle to hunt, there was not a single rabbit or bird in sight, the forest was silent, so I returned to the hut, there was no one outside, I frowned, and instinctively loaded my bow, urging Eagle into a walk, he walked hesitantly forward, then bolted forward, I looked back to see a large Cherokee man standing where Eagle had just been, I urged Eagle to go faster but there was no need, he was going as fast as possible, I looked back again to see three riders chasing me, “no,” I whispered, "C’mon Eagle! faster” I shot an arrow back but missed, we galloped on and on, I realised they were not the type to give up easily so I steered Eagle under an overhanging branch and jumped it then glanced back to see they had easily dodged it and were gaining on me, I tried to speed Eagle up but he was galloping flat out, so I leaned forward and kept urging him to go faster, soon they were beside me, one grabbed at Eagle then realised he had no bridle, I screamed as one snatched me off Eagle’s back, into his own horse, then they stopped their horses, Eagle slowed as well til I clucked to him to go, so he cantered away, we were stopped and one was about to go after Eagle but the man holding me said, “na, they said that horse was unrideable to any but the girl,” I realised the scout had obviously done his job well, they had been ready with their fast horses, we returned to the hut in time to see the children rounded up for the long walk ahead, the man dropped me amongst them and I saw another man leading Byser with the foal walking along beside her, they hustled us along and we walked along.  
We arrived at the Cherokee camp that night and we were pushed into a large hut; two guards watched us as we fell to the ground wearily and slept.  
The next morning at dawn, water and several loaves of bread were brought to us, then we were told to empty the chamber pots, after we had done this, several men got us to line up, we waited as several women surveyed us, Kaitcha and I were among the first picked out and I watched as the rest of the children were herded back to the large hut, then I followed the cruel faced women to my new temporary home, when I got there the women turned to me, “can you cook?” she demanded,   
“Yes,” I answered simply,  
“Good, make dinner.”  
I turned away, surprised, how was I supposed to know how many people were in this house? I guessed there were at least two boys judging by the amount of animal furs piled in the corner, so I began to make lots of extras in dinner, as I was doing this, a woman stood behind me, and watched curiously, “how many people live here?” I asked,  
“Um... four boys and the Nitka and Noeshow, so six not including us two servants,” she answered, so she was a servant too, she continued to stare at me,   
“Is it true that you’re the girl who rides a wild horse like a rogue?” she finally asked, I stared at her in surprise, why would someone be interested in me because of that? I looked her over and realised she was younger than I had first thought, she couldn’t be over 15 years old, finally, I nodded, suddenly hit with the thought that Eagle was still out there maybe waiting for my funny whistle, I finished preparing dinner and asked the girl, whose name was Aniela, if the lady was expecting anything else to be done, she nodded, “she ordered us to do the gardening, feed the stock and clean their yard from every drop of poo than wash it out with water til it stops stinking’”  
“How do you do that?” I asked in surprise,  
“You can’t, it’s an excuse to get us a beating from the master,” I couldn’t believe it, what an impossible job! So I followed Aniela outside and helped her weed the garden and check for bugs.


	10. Chapter 10

That afternoon I came in to serve up dinner, and I ate while the others did, but in the corner so I wouldn’t be seen, after dinner I took the dishes up and washed them in a rock bowl, after this I helped Aniela spread out the skins, we took one each and gave the others three each, after we had finished I was about to snuggle down, but Aniela stopped me, “come, we must go to the hearing, I followed her to stand in front of the man who was my master, “have the slaves finally done the job right?” he asked,  
“yes, they did the last job right, but they have still failed to meet my standards,” came the mistresses high voice, I saw her walk away and return with a rawhide whip, which she gave to him, he stood, “three lashes each,” he said, I trembled, but Aniela lifted her clothing so it would not get torn, then I gasped as I saw hundreds of scars across her back, many were fresh, the man led us both outside, then gave Aniela her three, she cried out each time, and I almost cried with her, each time she cried out I saw the man grin slightly, how he could enjoy this, I did not know, but I determined not to cry out, I lifted my old Mifata, and turned, he lashed the whip across my back, it felt like a knife slitting open a gash, once, I gritted my teeth, twice, now I bit my lip and tongue, then again, relief flooded over me as I realised it was finished, I started to take a step but as I did so he lashed me again, I fell over, what was he doing? He lashed me again, now I could hardly keep from crying, then I heard him drop the whip and stomp inside, Aniela ran to me and began crying softly as she wound my Mifata back on properly, “you should have cried out, he always loves to hear even the littlest sound of pain, this seems to give him power,” this was why he had gone twice extra, in anger, it was hard to get comfortable that night as my cuts were agony.  
The next morning I woke up early as usual and saw everyone was asleep, so I got up and walked outside and saw there seemed to be night watchers guarding the spaces between huts, presumably to keep out slaves, I went back in and began to slice a pineapple for breakfast, then I laid it on the ground and started the fire, then I made bread, by now everyone was waking up and preparing for the work for the day, I helped roll up the pelts then began on the lunch stew, it was simmering when I went outside to do gardening, Aniela helped me then we went to feed the animals, there were several cows and goats to cut grass for, a cat to be fed meat and several dogs also to be fed, but my favourite were the horses, each horse was a pinto or appaloosa, there was one stallion and six mares who we had to feed and water, it took most of the morning to do this then we went in to serve lunch, and clean up a little and make dinner to cook, then we went out to do the impossible job, I got the metal flat rock to scoop the poo onto, then Aniela got the bowl of water and she cleaned out the yard, it was pure dirt so quiet hard to scrub, we tried but hadn’t gotten very far when the sun started to set and it was time to go inside to serve up dinner, I couldn’t see what we were accomplishing but we did as the lady said and that was that, then I realised she hadn’t even gone out to look at our work, she knew it was impossible so she didn’t bother I realised, we served it up, ate, laid out the pelts then lined up for the whipping, but this time the women got a long metal pole, I listened as they talked, “six whacks,” he said, so we followed him out, he chose me to go first, I readied myself and was knocked over by the second whack, he still whammed the pole into my body, I could barely breath now, even after the sixth I couldn’t cry out, I didn’t have the breath, but he continued whamming me, then slowly I stopped feeling anything at all.  
When I opened my eyes I was in my pelt, my head was aching like crazy; ears felt as if they might burst, and I saw Aniela looking at me with scared eyes, “what's wrong?” I croaked, my throat was dry, Aniela smiled slightly, “you’re alive, they thought you were dead,” she knelt and hugged me, I groaned as she pushed half a dozen bruises, “am I in the same place?” I asked,  
“Yes, they were going to dump your body tomorrow, but I thought that I could at least give you a pelt to lie on,”  
“How could they think I was dead if I was only numb for a few minutes?” I wondered aloud,  
"A few minutes? You were asleep for two days!” Aniela exclaimed, I couldn’t believe it!   
“Wait, I have an idea, does anyone else know I am alive?” I asked,  
“No,”  
“Good, how does this place get rid of bodies?”  
“I think they dump them for the animals to eat," I grinned at this,   
“I am free then!”   
“But the crime for getting free is...”  
“What?”  
“Ten lashes, plus a beating and if you don’t get up the next day, you get the same thing till you die same thing with helping someone get free.”  
“Well I am almost getting that now,” I said, though fear went up my spine at this, “I have to try,” I pleaded, she nodded,   
“I will pretend you didn’t wake up,” she agreed finally.


	11. Chapter 11

I almost groaned aloud as I was heaved onto a horse, so I was soon hanging over the horse, then they tied me on, obviously they wouldn’t normally do this to a live person I realised, as the ropes were pulled so tight I could hardly breath, then they clucked to the horse carrying me and we started moving, every step was agony as the ropes slid along my cuts and bruises, reopening them, I hoped I would not bleed too much or they might become suspicious, the horse stopped and the men lifted me down, I heard one say, “such a shame, she had years of work left yet,”   
“This is the girl I caught, she was riding a horse like a maniac,” another said,  
“oh, tis the first time I have heard anyone have regrets about a dead slave, seriously, she is one, out of thousands of slaves, come on, let’s go,” the third man said,   
A minute later I heard hoofbeats, then silence. I opened my eyes slightly and saw I was alone, I let out my whistle and started to get up then was hit with a painful headache, and I closed my eyes then opened them as the pain slowly subsided, I whistled again, “Eagle!” I saw him cantering to me, he skidded around in joy then lowered his head and stuck his muzzle in my face and I noticed it was wet, he must have been having a drink, then it came, his backflow, he spat it over my face,  
“Oh thanks Eagle!” I laughed, it hurt my head but I couldn’t resist, I was free again! 

I healed quickly though I would always have the scars, I decided to make myself a freely set dress so it was easy to move around, so I set up camp further upriver, now far away from my old home and also away from the Cherokees camp, I wanted to never see that camp again, I had to remake a bow and arrows, then I began to work on making a hut and a tent, the tent was easy, but the hut took a week to finish, after this I made another hut, seeing winter was on its way, Eagle would need shelter, one morning, I walked out of my hut and saw with surprise Eagle was not alone, six mares were grazing alongside him, they all looked up and all of them bolted but Eagle, he trotted to me eagerly, I jumped onto him, and was glad I had replaced his belly strap which I kept on him permanently with the ropes I had made in a pocket, then I wondered where I would keep them, so that day I began building a yard using mud as I had seen used at the Cherokee camp, I made the walls as tall as Eagle’s head and the gate as skins stretched taught around sticks, this would be sturdy, it took me a week to build this, as I was building it I thought of how I would train each horse to do a different thing, I would find someone else to give a horse to, maybe even several people, I could start a tribe, and name it Eagle tribe! But these were only dreams, I was also starting to feel really lonely for Nitka, I missed her showing me all the different plants we could or couldn’t eat, her silent body beside mine as I checked the plants for bugs, even her help when I started the fire on green wood accidently, filling the hut with smoke. A plan was hatching in my head, though I tried not to let it, I got the idea that maybe I could free some slaves, maybe even Aniela or Kaitcha, eventually I might even be able to save Niyol and the little children, so now a plan hatched in my brain, I prepared to put it in action.


	12. Chapter 12

I went out a few days after I had finished the yard and saw the same horses grazing with Eagle, this time, instead of walking where they would see me, I whistled, the other horses seemed to mistake it for a bird, but Eagle trotted over to the entrance of the hut, and I got on him sideways, hiding myself from the other horses, though I was sure they would smell me, but as I guided Eagle to nudge them towards the yard, they went obediently and were soon in the yard, as I got off to secure the gate they freaked out and started galloping around, but now I was thankful I had built it so tall as they reared against the edges, whinnying in terror, I had just shut the gate when a stallion came charging near me, he had fear in his eyes as he smelt me and he galloped away, I felt a tingly shiver run up my back, if he wasn’t so scared, he might have killed me. I left the horses to settle in and I prepared to go that afternoon, after getting ropes and my bow and arrow I set out. I arrived at sunset, about half an hour before dark. I slid down off Eagle and got a handful of sticks and walked along, then I saw a little girl walking around, she could only have been four years old and was lugging a full bucket of water over to a house, a woman whom I assumed was her master started to shout at her, “You spilt half of it! Now how do you expect me to wash up?” she tipped it out, “go fill it up and don’t spill it this time! You must be anticipating you’re beating tonight, both of you,” it was another girl the same height beside her whom I hadn’t noticed earlier, immediately all thoughts of rescuing Kaitcha vanished, I walked over to the girls, who were carrying a bucket each to the well, I strode over to them, putting down my sticks, I said “missy says for you two to come this way to be relieved of your beating,”  
“err... okay,” the shorter girl said, putting down her bucket, and following, I put my head down to make myself look like a slave, and I walked away, to Eagle, who was waiting for me as I had taught him to, I lifted each girl onto him but as I did so a man saw me, “hey! What are you doing with my slave?” I didn’t bother answering, rather, I jumped up in between the girls and made sure they were secure, the one behind holding me and I held Eagle’s mane around the other girls belly, then I urged Eagle into a canter while steering him out of the camp, a few men had seen me and were running for their horses, it was different riding with three people, I knew the Indians were great trackers so I headed for the water after the men fell back, unable to keep up. I got Eagle to go along the stream until we almost reached my hut, then I got Eagle to go downstream while we got out and I covered our tracks, til we arrived to my home which I had camouflaged well the previous day, now I led the two shivering girls into the hut as darkness descended.


	13. Chapter 13

The little girls’ names were Arias and Hakea, Arias was four years old and though she was older then Hakea, she was a little shorter, Hakea was not even related to Arias despite their likeness, she was a little over three, and was almost as strong as a five year old, I showed them the horses and they were delighted to watch as I trained each horse in the smaller yard I had made, I started by cutting grass and mixed it with a herb that Nitka had told me was a favourite for horses, I soon had them all eating out of my hands, then I moved on to putting stuff on each of their back’s, tying my new pockets I had made on them, and flaps of skin that flapped around as the horses tried to buck them off, by now I had named all the horses but two, two whom I saved for Hakea and Arias, the horses whom I had named were, Arebela, who was a appaloosa,  
Rosado, who was a black and white pinto, Eluvia, who was a young grey and Azuela, who was black with four white socks.   
The two mares left were the most gentle and I found them the easiest to train, soon Hakea were on horses more than they were on the ground. They looked to me as their mother and we went together to hunt every day, I made them a bow and arrow each, a little smaller than mine of course, but only after I made them promise to be responsible and only shoot animals to kill and I made them eat every one they killed. I set the horses loose and taught each to come to their names, at first I rewarded them for coming then slowly the rewards grew more rare, one day I got Arebela into the yard and got on her for the first time, I had still been training her every day and so she knew what I wanted when I clicked, she walked on around the yard, every time she started to turn one way I pressed my foot in the opposite side, soon she was turning every time I did it. The next day I started trotting on her and I got on Azuela for the first time, she was as easy as Arebela, then I got on Rosado. It was early morning and Arias and Hakea were watching, I was confident she would be as easy as the others so I carefully got on, the minute she felt me on her back, she froze, I thought she was taking it very well, so I clicked, this triggered her into action, she bucked so many times I became dizzy but held her mane for dear life, when this didn’t get me off she spun and started forward then suddenly stopped, now she was sweating in fear and she started to gallop around the yard, swerving, then she slammed into a stop, I could hardly stay on now as my hands started to sweat, she stood still then, puffing, I got off, wanting to finish in a good note, she walked out the gate and didn’t come to her name the next day, I had lost her from lack of trust, now I knew I should have kept her in a yard for that week. Meanwhile the others were getting better and soon I was hunting on them almost as often as I was on Eagle, the two whom I had saved for the girls were coming along nicely as the girls gained their trust, I decided I would go back after they had had two months reprieve, now I really wished Nitka was here, she knew how to raise children, I was kept busy and my patience was tried as the girls got into mischief often, soon I understood what Nitka had meant she was having ‘one of those crazy days’ where I felt as if my own life was a mess and as I did one thing, the girls would be messing somewhere else, but we all understood each other and our trust was built so soon I was allowing them to go hunting on their own with their horses.  
One day I realised I couldn’t do this on my own anymore, I still hadn’t forgotten Aniela and Kaitcha back at the Navajo camp, I decided that night I would go to the camp on Eluvia while leading Azuela. I told Arias and Hakea that I would be gone half the night and to listen for my danger call, I wasn’t worried about them, I had shown them how to trap a rabbit and what plants to cook with, they could take care of themselves, I was wary though as I left that afternoon, whistling to Azuela for her to follow me on Eluvia, I would have preferred to have steady Eagle beneath me, but he might have been recognised and I wasn’t confident to use my bow against people. I arrived at dusk, dismounted Eluvia, who was tense because she had never seen so many people before; I hurried to the animal pens where I was sure Aniela would be, I found her scrubbing the pen hopelessly, “Aniela.” I hissed, glancing around, we were alone; “Aniela!” she glanced up then dropped the bucket,   
“Nascha.” She whispered, pushing her unkept hair away from her eyes, “you came!”  
"C’mon, horses are waiting.” I said, “I’ll meet you next to the Appaloosa, carry the water and busy yourself,” I hurried away in search of Kaitcha, I searched for about half an hour with no results when I saw a familiar form bending over the well,  
“Nitka.” I whispered, I forced myself to walk, though I could hardly hold myself back, I saw the well known face and as she started to carry the bucket back I stood in her way, realising how different it would be to see slaves hugging so I just nudged her towards the horses, she had her eyes lowered and didn’t seem to recognise me so I guided her to where Aniela was waiting, I first legged Aniela onto Azuela than helped Nitka onto Eluvia, jumping on myself, I whistled to Azuela and squeezed Eluvia into a trot, it was growing dark so no one noticed this time, we trotted out easily but I was careful to go along the same route as last time.


	14. Chapter 14

I woke up to hearing sobs and feeling wetness on my face, I opened my eyes and saw Nitka above me, crying, we hugged together for a long time until Nitka seemed to pull herself together, “we need some warmth in this place.” She looked around, “you’ve gotten yourself a cosy place down here,” I nodded, grinning,   
“I built it,” I said proudly,  
“you did the right thing, coming back for old Nitka,” she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you last night,” she apologised,  
“wasn’t your fault, Nitka.” I answered, Nitka bent over the fire pit and built a fire and had breakfast ready before Arias and Hakea had a chance to wake up, now they rubbed their eyes sleepily, “Nascha?” Hakea looked from Nitka to me, unsure how to react to the stranger,  
“time to get up,” I said, “this is my Nitka,” I said, just then Aniela walked in from outside, “and this is Aniela, my friend,” I introduced, “these are two little girls from the village, I found them a couple of months ago,” Hakea was already eating as Arias stretched and yawned, still half asleep, I ate hungrily, it had been awhile since I had been cared for, Nitka was already outside, probably tending the garden or feeding the horses, I walked out and saw with surprise she was patting Rosado! Rosado had come back! I walked towards them cautiously but when Rosado saw me she turned and bolted away, “someone dislikes you.” Nitka commented, I laughed,   
“I tried to tame her, but she is challenging, she ran off a few weeks ago and didn’t return until today.” I said, Nitka smiled,   
“lets do gardening,” she said, I followed her to the garden patch and began to weed it, the others came and helped, though I didn’t see Arias and figured she would be hunting as usual, we stopped for lunch and I found a pleasant surprise waiting in the kitchen, Aniela had put a bowl for lunch over the fire before coming to help, I thanked her and we ate while discussing what to do that afternoon, we agreed to go for a long ride so I called the horses, Eagle came first, then Azuela and Arabella after a few minutes Eluvia too came, warily, Nitka got on Arabella while I mounted Eagle and Aniela got Azuela, Arias and Hakea got onto their own two, Hakea had named hers ‘Hathel’ while Arias named hers Hawk, we had a great time and I realised how much I had missed Nitka. 

Chapter 16  
Six months passed and soon I had made several trips to the Cherokee camp. Now there were twenty of us, mainly girls, I found a couple of boys who were so desperate I couldn’t resist, soon we built three more large mud huts, though only a few of us lived in them, we mainly split up except for mealtimes, Hakea and Arias helped capture and train enough horses so everyone had a mount, and Nitka slowly won Rosado over. One day as I was riding Eagle in hunt of firewood, I saw Nitka riding Rosado, I was excited for her, yet I was a little sad I hadn’t won the beautiful horse over myself, I looked up as Hakea rode over, she had grown several inches and was beautiful even at her own young age of six, she sat straight and tall on the unbridled horse, I sensed abstinence in her sharp gaze, “Nascha, why can’t I go with you tonight?” I sighed,  
“I have told you plenty, you are simply too young and inexperienced,” I answered,  
“but-” I gazed at her, a deep frown furrowing my forehead, the real reason deep down was that I couldn’t stand the thought of it coming down to my responsibility if she were hurt,  
“but you said when was older, I am six now, and I really want to see you outsmart the Cherokees, plus, you told Arias she might be allowed to go this time,” I looked up at her high on Hathel’s back, she looked mature beyond her years yet sometimes she still acted like a four year old,  
“you are not to argue with me about this anymore Hakea, I told you my reason and you need to accept it,” Hakea blinked back tears as she turned Hathel around and headed to camp, I finished tying the sticks to Eagles back, still worried,  
“you should let her go.” I turned to see Aniela standing behind me, arms folded in front of chest,  
“I can’t.”   
Why not?” Aniela sounded surprised, I realised Hakea wasn’t the only one who thought I was just being mean,  
“Because she might get hurt, she is my responsibility and I don’t want to be the one responsible for that sort of thing,”  
“yeah right, like anyone would blame you, the hero who saved them all from being beaten to death.” Aniela countered,  
“I would blame me- wait did you just say ‘hero’?” I stepped back and stared at her, who could think ‘me’ as a hero?  
“That's what you are, risking your life to save slaves who think they are worthless till you show them they are worth saving,” Aniela said, looking at me with zeal in her eyes, “use us all, we seem to be doing nothing to repay you.”  
“alright, but what if...” I stopped myself when I saw the trust in her brown eyes, “lets do this,”  
I went back to the camp and we agreed half of the people could go while the other half stayed. We left in the late afternoon, careful to enter through side alleyways we entered, I gave the signal and we all split up, ready to meet again at camp the next morning with our new charges.   
I looked around for a slave that looked worn out and beaten, then I saw her, Kaitcha was carrying a armful of rocks along the hard worn ground, I hardly recognised her, the princesses eyes were lowered in defeat, her face sunken in starvation, my joy at seeing this long lost friend was mixed with rage as a man kicked her over as she went past him, making her face hit the rocks as she fell to the ground, I could hardly stop myself from rushing to her side, but, since a few men were pointing at her, laughing. ‘Going to her would draw unneeded attention to me.’ I realised, better to do things secretly as planned, so I waited while they laughed and poked at her with sticks a few times before moving on, I followed her as she walked at a limping gait presumably towards her master’s home. But before Kaitcha got too far, I walked faster so I was beside her.  
“where are you going anyway?” I asked as if I were mid a conversation with her,  
“why would anyone care.” She answered bitterly, glancing up, then she dropped her sticks, I was ready for the surprise and whistled for Eagle, who came at a gallop, I put one arm around Kaitcha and as he went past I grabbed a handful of mane with the other hand, hooking my elbow onto the other side of his withers, he slowed a little so I was able swing Kaitcha –who was surprisingly light- onto his back, then swing on myself behind her as she instinctively grabbed his mane. I looked behind me and saw at least three men were pursuing us.   
They had been ready for me.   
But I was ready for them too. I grabbed my quiver full of arrows and slung it over my shoulder, then I grabbed my bow and began shooting out random arrows, deliberately not hitting anyone, they slowed til they were out of my range, but kept coming. I realised they were looking for our camp, so, using my heels and body language, I directed Eagle away from camp, to my older hunting grounds I didn’t go near anymore. Soon we were on familiar ground and I decided I would have to outsmart them, asking Eagle to do a sliding stop, I readied my bow. The stop came, but Kaitcha wasn’t ready and she slid onto Eagle’s neck, I was unsure whether to help her or attack, I chose attack, figuring if she fell off I could always pick her up from the ground. But she didn’t fall off and I managed to bury two arrows deeply into a couple of horses forelegs, it hurt me to have to do this to the horses who were simply obeying their masters, but it was them or their masters’, both horses fell to the ground, spilling their riders, I saw a few more of the men rein their horses in, I clicked Eagle on and we galloped away, soon they all disappeared from view and I decided to check if we were being followed, sliding off silently, I tapped Eagle on the rump as a signal to keep going, then hid behind a tree, looking around, I waited in the darkness, then I heard the unmistakable noise of two horses...

**Author's Note:**

> This book is still being written stay tuned for updates!  
> any feedback is appreciated


End file.
